After Losing Its Hospital, A Small Tennessee Town Shows One Way To Make Do

The Lewis Health Center, which was previously a hospital, still has a helipad outside for transporting patients.

Blake Farmer
/ WPLN

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Rural hospitals in Tennessee have been some of the most stressed in the country. Eight communities are getting used to life after losing their only hospital, and more facilities are teetering. So health officials are exploring the options and pointing to the town of Hohenwald, which has made do without a hospital for two decades.

Having to drive 45 minutes to the nearest emergency room doesn't sound so bad until a rattlesnake sinks its fangs into you, says William Self, a lifelong resident of Lewis County. He says it took hours to get treated with anti-venom. In that time, his hand swelled up so much that it turned black and cut off his circulation. Doctors at Maury Regional Medical Center in Columbia had to make a cut from his palm nearly to his elbow.

"They split it down there to relieve the pressure,” Self said, noting that the incision damaged his muscle."I can't bend my fingers. I can't grip like I used to."

Self figures his hand would be in better shape if it hadn't taken so long to get help. And that delay is largely because Hohenwald’s hospital closed in 1996. With a relatively low income and unhealthy population of fewer than 12,000 in the county, the private owners didn’t see a way to make money.

Joyce and William Self regularly use the Lewis Health Center, which offers primary care as well as x-ray, physical therapy and some diagnostic services.

Credit Blake Farmer / WPLN

Lewis County Mayor Bill Webb says it's a loss that still stings.

"It does hurt in recruiting industry and recruiting people in, because we don't have a 24-hour medical facility," he said.

Webb would still welcome anyone who would provide hospital services but admits it's unlikely round-the-clock service will ever return.

The old building languished for a time and has now become something shy of a hospital but more than a clinic. On Tuesday, William Self drove his wife, Joyce, to an appointment for her irregular heartbeat.

"They have x-rays. I’ve had IV done here. I’ve had breathing treatments," she said. "I'd like to have a hospital. But I'm thankful we have this."

A sign lets Lewis County residents know the hours and offerings. Another sign on the building instructs patients to call 911 if the facility is closed for the night.

Credit Blake Farmer / WPLN

At the Lewis Health Center, patients can be seen as late as 10 o'clock. And some have stayed most of a day for observation. If a patient needs more attention, an ambulance is parked out back, ready to whisk them to Columbia or even Nashville, if the condition is serious enough.

For Tennessee, it’s a novel concept that has attracted the attention of Congress as rural communities prop up struggling hospitals.

"Increasingly in Tennessee, we're going to have rural counties without a hospital, and we can't have rural counties without health care," Sen. Lamar Alexander said on a site visit to Hohenwald this week.

Executives and board members from Maury Regional Medical Center meet with Sen. Lamar Alexander at Lewis Health Center on Tuesday. Alexander has said the facility in Hohenwald should be a model to other rural communities losing their local hospital.

Credit Blake Farmer / WPLN

This facility only works because Maury Regional Medical Center, which is owned by the neighboring county, has taken over and qualified for some federal grant money to offset its losses.

"Does it have an emergency room? No. Does it have surgical capabilities? No. But for this size community, I think this is a good model, and I do think it can be replicated in other communities," Maury Regional CEO Alan Watson said.

Watson is looking for some regulatory help. During Alexander's visit, he asked if the federal government might consider new designations for a hybrid health center, so he could charge patients for services a hospital might perform that most clinics don't offer.

Already, the Tennessee Hospital Association is working with facilities on the verge of closure and encouraging them to consider a similar transition to primary care before they’re faced with shutting down altogether.

Since 2012, eight hospitals have closed, with a ninth (Decatur General Hospital) slated to close. According to THA, most have not found a way to reopen.

The percentage of veterans in the Tennessee and Kentucky region waiting more than 30 days to see a doctor is nearly double that of the rest of the country. About one in 20 appointments in the Tennessee Valley healthcare system failed to meet the VA’s completion goal, according to new data from the Dept. of Veterans Affairs.